1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a connector assembled to a wiring substrate and particularly, it relates to an improvement of a tab structure of the connector.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the conventional connector, a female connector housing is fixed on the under face of the substrate so as to agree with a rectangular opening in the wiring substrate. The connector housing of this kind is equipped with a plurality of tabs. In spite of one piece of conductive metal plate, each tab can be divided into three sections by folding: a base part; an inner extension part extending from an inner end of the base part upward; an outer extension part extending from an outer end of the base part upward. In this way, the tab is shaped to have a substantial U-shape d configuration. In arrangement, the tab is arranged so that the base part creeps on the bottom of the housing and the inner extension part projects into the interior of the connector housing. The outer extension part is arranged so as to extend along the outer wall of the connector housing upward thereby to project from the top face of the wiring substrate. On the side of the top face, the outer extension part is soldered to a circuit pattern constructed on the substrate for electrical connection.
There is also known another connector structure where a female connector housing is apart from the wiring substrate. In this case, the connector housing is carried by the wiring substrate through the intermediary of tabs. Similarly to the previous connector, each tab of the connector has a substantial U-shaped configuration, consisting of the base part, the inner extension part and the outer extension part. Equally, the tab is arranged in a manner that the base part creeps on the bottom of the housing and the inner extension part projects into the housing, while the outer extension part projects on the back face of the wiring substrate. On the side of the back face, the outer extension part is soldered to a circuit pattern of the substrate.
Since the above-mentioned connectors of two kinds adopt the U-shaped tabs in common, it is necessary to lengthen the outer and inner extension parts corresponding to the height of the housing. That is, in common with the former and latter connectors, each tab has a long length in its unfolded condition and the outer extension parts of the tab exposes itself to the outside of the housing. Consequently, there arises a problem of causing the connector to be large-sized, reducing the reliability.
Additionally, in case of the above connector in which an inner extension part of each tab projects upward, the male connector to be mated with the connector is necessary to have a structure to accept the inner extension part, exhibiting a reduced application for the male connector for flexible wiring substrate.